Website for event NorCal Drives

California Coast 500 Miglia

The California Coast 500 Miglia (500 Mile) is a fun overnight road trip event. The adventure starts in Portola Valley and heads down through Big Sur to an overnight stop in San Louis Obispo. From San Luis Obispo, the trip heads through the heart of California with a lunch stop and optional tour at a Pietra Santa Winery. From the winery, we will head to Livermore where the drive concludes at the First Street Ale House where we will provide awards to the winners of our road trip games.

Unlike typical rallies and road course events, we encourage people to stay in a group and stop at the planned destinations. However, the stops and activities are suggestions, not mandates. Our format is for those individuals, couples or families, who want to have an adventure as well as make new friends with fellow enthusiasts. We mix the day up between driving sections, photo stops and sightseeing opportunities for everyone. This is not a race, so if you looking for a competitive event this is not for you.

The 2013 Coast 500 Miglia Itinerary – October 12 – 13

Download the event itinerary here: http://www.norcaldrivers.com/drives/...0%20Miliga.pdf
There will be eight stops on the way down to San Luis Obispo, including a group tour towards the end of the day at Hearst Castle, and a stop in Cambria to see the Garbage House. The day will conclude with dinner at a great Italian restaurant, and drinks at a local watering hole for those who wish to chat more.
After taking the tour of Hearst Castle, we will head down to Cambria for a quick stop at the Garbage house. The house is closed, but it is still a sight to see. The entire building is made from found materials.
After the quick photo stop, we will head down to the hotel to relax and freshen up before meeting for dinner. We have a group rate at the Vagabond Inn off Madonna Road for those who wish to stay with the group.
Dinner location for the group: Vieni Vai Trattoria
Day 2: Agenda (drivers day)
This day will be more focused on driving than sightseeing. There will be a few stops on the way to the winery for pictures, but the focus is on covering miles along some fun back roads.

Breakfast meeting point: Bon Temps Creole Café

The drive will wind through 137 miles of back roads to the winery. The stops will be short and we will be sure to get some group photos.The final leg of the drive will be a group cruise until we get closer to the East Bay, where we will then turn off and take a side road to enjoy one last HOORA before we end our drive at the First Street Ale House in Livermore. There we will pass out awards for the winners of the road trip games and say goodbye after a weekend of fun.
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Fee Schedule:

The base event fee of $117.00 covers the following items for one person.

A. Event Insurance for stops

B. Two decals (please add your number choice in the comments when checking out)

C. Day 1 - Boxed Lunch
$15.00 for each additional lunch

D. Day 1 - Hearst Castle Tour Fee
$25.00 for each additional tour ticket

C. Day 2 - Lunch at Pietra Santa Winery
$15.00 for each additional lunch

We have a group rate at the Vagabond Inn in San Luis Obispo. A Single Queen is $81, Single King is $100 and two queens is $115 a night. You can select the room type you wish to add to your purchase on your registration form. If you do not wish to stay with the group, there are several hotel options in the area.

Register:
To register for the event, go to NorCal Drives

 

I forgot to note that space is limited and the registration deadline is October 2nd.


Here are the current numbers that have been claimed. Image will refresh as people register.

 

Just a friendly bump for the event.

Some people asked how big the decals are, here is a image of roughly how big they will be.

 

Reminder that registration ends this week.

 

Hello all, sorry for the delay o images and a recap of the event. I was waiting for people to send in photos and I am still waiting on one set, which will be added next week. So make sure to check the pictures again in about a week.

Currently there are 1400 images from the trip so please see the link below to view them all. I cannot post all them to the thread as that is a bit too much.

500 Miglia

Recap:



8:00am Saturday morning, everyone met up in Mountain View to sign waivers, get a cup of coffee and grab their lunch for the first day. After getting through all the admin stuff the group hit the road around 8:45am. We made our way down HW 101 where we got a little split up but it was to be expected. The group came back together at the start of HW 1 just our side of Monterey.



The weather was a bit foggy as we started down the coast. Even with the fog the cost was still breathtaking as always. The group made a stop at one turnout for pictures and then made our way further down HW 1. Next stop was at Bixby Bridge where we got pictures of the cars going across the bridge.



After the bridge the weather cleared up and we had sunshine the rest of the day. Our next stop was at Julia Pfeiffer Burns to look at the cove and waterfall. Some of the group took the break time to eat lunch while others hiked around for a bit.



The planned lunch stop was kind of derailed by the Emerald Festival. What this was I have no clue but let’s say the people in attendance were peace, love and flower type. So instead of braving the crazy crowd at the picnic area we head closer to San Simion and had lunch there.

On the way to lunch and about 17 miles from Hearst Castle, one of the members, which we still do not know how it happened, got about a nickel size piece of metal taken out of their oil pan. While this was an unfortunate event, the group managed and we were able to help the participant out with a ride and tow.



After lunch the group made its way to Hearst Castle where we took over two of the upstairs tours. This was fun as we were the only group there for a hole hour. After the tour we explored the grounds before heading back. One thing that caught all of us off guard was one of the participants proposed to his girlfriend while at the castle. We wish them the best of luck on their future life together.



After the castle tour we made our way to San Luis Obispo to check in to the hotel and head to dinner. This was the conclusion to a long day for some as we had to drive a ways to participate in the event.

Day two: Drivers Day

The second day we left to head back up to the Bay Area. This day was all about the driving so we left the hotel promptly at 9:00am after everyone got a good night’s sleep. We head up 101 where we then turned off to start the twisty road driving. As people were told when we turned off the freeway, you will be asking where the heck are you taking us. While the first mile was a little bumpy, after this rough patch the route went on 44 miles of fun twisty roads where not a single car was spotted. One hair razing incident was a wild boar just happened to run in front of the lead car and almost became part of a BLT. Thankfully radio’s and a sharp co drive helped ensure no bacon was on the menu at that moment. At the end of the 44 miles of fun we started the notice the road seemed to be moving. It was not till we reached the first check point we realized these were tarantulas running across the road.



After the first checkpoint we started the next 60 mile stretch to the winery. This section was all about eating miles on smooth pavement and twist and turns. This was the highlight section after taking a more the more technical road at the start of the day.



The group arrived at the winery for a catered lunch and photos. There was also a chance to do some wine tasting which I was told by those who did the wine was very good. After lunch the group made our way to Livermore to say good byes before going home. Half of the group decided to peel off as they got closer to home and did not make it to Livermore.



This was a fun weekend with good people and good roads. We look forward to doing the 500 Miliga again next year we we hope to add a few more activities to the event.

Cheers